


The Red Rose and The Pink Sakura

by Ariss_Tenoh



Series: Les Fleurs [2]
Category: X -エックス- | X/1999, 闇の末裔 | Yami No Matsuei | Descendants of Darkness
Genre: Complete, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 19:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1699679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariss_Tenoh/pseuds/Ariss_Tenoh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when the flowers of Death meet? The delicate transient sakura, and the eternal rose?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Red Rose and The Pink Sakura

A black sky, a holy silence, a full moon hung low and heavy against the horizon; its ominous silver light casting all it touched into an ethereal realm. A realm not of gods or mortals, but those who walked in between, not bound by reality's chains and not tied by eternity's strings.

 

He walked towards the clearing to examine "it". A children's swings covered "it" in shadow from above and soft sand embraced it from below. He frowned in apparent displeasure.

 

_Such a mess._

 

The body, once a perfect living human, now lay broken in pieces. Dark red liquid pools indicated where each fracture the body had been inflicted with was.

 

His eyes narrowed.

 

Something had caught his attention.

 

Something that rested on the body's centre, yet was untainted by its red.

 

Because..

 

His black-gloved hand reached to carefully pick it.

 

Because.. it was already bathed in its own crimson.

 

The Sakurazukamori smiled.

 

_So.. He has returned._

 

A smile of expectation with a hint of excitement lit his face. He turned away from the body's unappealing sight and walked into the darkness, allowing its mercury-like waters to engulf him and hide him from the world.

 

* * *

 

The sun shone bright in the azure sky. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from its bold rays as he gazed at the striking blue of a summer sky against the pure white of a few lazy clouds drifting by.

 

He smiled. It was truly a beautiful day.

 

Too bad he had to be spending it in the library. He pouted, he supposed it couldn't be helped. Veterinary medicine was not an easy major at any university, particularly not at the one he intended to enrol in.

 

The young boy walked to the library's building in his school, a mischievous wind blew his black hair and tried to plant a few stray leaves in it. He pushed his hair back with one hand, while the other carried a heavy load of loaned books.

 

The large oak doors swung closed behind him as he entered the library. Ancient silence greeted him and he let out a sigh. He liked libraries, their eternal silence was soothing when compared to the pandemonium of the outside world. Time seemed to pause here, and allow reason and thought to reign.. instead of impulse and action.

 

He strode to the front desk and smiled warmly at the librarian. she was a middle-aged woman with chestnut hair and hazel eyes. He thought that her job suited her well, what with her quiet nature and patient smile, at times she was unnoticeable as she seemed to blend into the library itself. She looked up from the book she was reading, a collection of poems by John Keats he glimpsed, and smiled when she saw it was him. He was a regular visitor of the library, perhaps one of the few who frequented it almost on a daily basis. Besides her, there was no one else in it today. The last bell had just rung and most, if not all, of the students were leaving.

 

"You've finished them already?" Her voice expressed her surprise as she took the books from him.

 

"I didn't have anything to do over the weekend," came the honest reply.

 

"Haven't I told you to find a girlfriend?," she pretended to be hurt.

 

At this he genuinely laughed.

 

"I'm afraid I haven't found anyone as charming as you are yet, Kagami-san."

 

Kagami Mizuki laughed and returned his library card to him.

 

"Don't stay up late reading or you'll be wearing glasses soon. Though I'm sure you'll still look handsome in them," she teased.

 

He gave her a parting smile before heading to search for the book his latest assignment required.

 

Rows of bookcases lined the library to the point that its visitors found it hard to walk. The library was too small really, he mused, but then a government high-school was always on a tight budget.

 

He rounded one corner to the shelf which housed the book he needed. And after a quick reading of book spines, he found it. He attempted to pull it from its place but it wouldn't budge. He saw another student walk into the other side of the shelf. After a few hard pulls, the book finally came off the shelf. But not without causing a domino-effect of fallen books and a startled gasp on the opposite side.

 

Immediately, he rushed to help that student when he stopped at the image before him. The boy was about his age and dressed in the same black, high-necked uniform all male students of the school wore, but it was the boy's facial features that held his attention.

 

The boy had silver hair with such fine thin strands that it mimicked silk, his eyes were also silver and protected behind similarly silver-framed glasses, and his skin was pearl-white. A halo of luminescence enveloped his entire being.

 

Almost like an angel, the thought blossomed in his mind.

 

After a moment, the spell was broken.

 

"Excuse me.. but could you help me?", the other boy asked in a low, soft voice.

 

He smiled in apology and tried to walk into the narrow space between the bookcases without stepping on the fallen books. He offered his hand to the other boy who took it.

 

Tension coursed through both their bodies at the contact.

 

Power. Raw power. Restless and shifting beneath the skin like violent waves under the thin surface of a frozen sea.

 

Both of them possessed it.

 

Amber and silver eyes gazed at one another in clear bewilderment.

 

He helped the boy to stand and was rewarded with a murmured 'Thank you' in return. The boy kneeled to pick the books on the floor and he did the same. His eyes narrowed in careful scrutiny. It wasn't a trick of lighting, the other boy's hair was silver, with darker streaks of grey the same shade as his eyes.

 

Interesting, he thought.

 

 

They piled the books on a nearby table.

 

"Kagami-san is going to be angry," he said as he placed the last book on top of the others.

 

"I'm sure she'll understand once you explain to her what happened," an amused, casual tone supplied. With a hint of something else in it.

 

He turned to face the other student.

 

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for the books to fall," he sounded regretful.

 

"It's all right," was the unmindful answer.

 

"Ah, I almost forgot. My name is Sakurazuka Seishirou." He inclined his head slightly.

 

"I'm Muraki Kazutaka."

 

Seishirou allowed the words to echo in his mind. "Let me apologize properly for that mishap. How about coffee?" Curiosity took root in him.

 

Muraki blinked. "That's not necessary," he began.

 

"But I insist," Seishirou interrupted with a brilliant smile. His curiosity graced it with the needed sincerity.

 

This time it was the silver-haired boy's turn to smile.

 

"All right, if you insist." A bit of good humour shone through his eyes and words, like sunlight through mist. Muraki stepped to a nearby chair and slipped on a coat he had left there.

 

A white coat, Seishirou observed, but a coat in the heat of Summer?

 

He lifted his school bag and a blue plastic bag in one hand, and a book in another. "I'm afraid I have a weak constitution, Sakurazuka-san," he explained as he turned to Seishirou.

 

"That's unfortunate. Shall we go?"

 

Muraki nodded. They walked to the counter and Seishirou gave his book to Kagami. The woman looked past him at the boy in the silver glasses and white coat.

 

"I told you to get a girlfriend not a boyfriend," she reprimanded him.

 

"Kagami-san, please." The Sakurazuka protested and let his cheeks be coloured with a bit of pink.

 

Behind him, Muraki couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

 

"Did you just come in? I didn't see you with Sakurazuka-kun." Her voice was tinged with a little confusion as she filled the forms.

 

"You were absorbed in your reading," the young boy said politely.

 

Kagami gave a quick nod of her head and turned to reach for a pen, her brown hair with hues of red in it spilled over her shoulders with the movement. It made a pleasant contrast with the cream-coloured blouse she wore. Seishirou thought the image was pretty. She passed Seishirou's book to him and took Muraki's.

 

Seishirou found the book's title to be cute. "Do you like antique dolls Muraki-san?"

 

Its title was 'Victorian Dolls'.

 

He was a little surprised when Muraki did not deny his claim nor feel embarrassed by it.

 

"Yes, I collect them. I have quite a number of them at home." His pale lips curved in a heart-felt smile.

 

 _Very intriguing, Muraki Kazutaka-san._ Amber eyes glimmered with rarely felt excitement.

 

"Here you go. Have a nice day." She winked at them. They wished her the same and left the library with smiles of amusement on their faces.

 

 

The sunlight outside caused the boys to blink after the relative dimness of the library. They strode along the path which was paved in grey stones, green trees towered on one side of it and a street with passing cars on the other. Silence hovered on light wings as it accompanied them, as neither felt the need for meaningless speech.

 

The peace in the air was abruptly broken, two girls were chasing each other and one of them crashed into the boys despite their attempts to side-step her.

 

"I'm very sorry. Are you all right?" the girl asked. Her blonde-dyed hair was wild and in disarray, her navy school uniform was wrinkled and its necktie loose.

 

"I'm fine, you needn't worry." Muraki smiled disarmingly.

 

The girl blushed at the handsome boy with the grey eyes in front of her.

 

"Are _you_ all right though? You hit him quite hard," a warm teasing voice asked from the side.

 

She turned to look at its source and found a pair of concerned honey-coloured eyes.

 

"Yes.. um.. I'm all right." She repeated her apology to the boy, bowed a little, and quickly went to her friend who was finally catching up with her.

 

Her friend took her arm and started babbling about how good looking the boys were. She supposed they were, if in a different way. They were the same height she noted and perhaps the same age as well. But while one looked delicate in his elegance and almost ethereal, like a snow crystal, his friend radiated warmth and an assertive personality in a somewhat masculine manner, like a shining star.

 

Yet.. She frowned.. Both of them possessed an unsettling gaze in their eyes.

 

She shivered involuntarily and tugged her friend on.

 

 

Seishirou had an amused expression on his face as he commented, "Such energy girls have." His companion though, was reaching to check something in his plastic bag. Seishirou had wondered what the blue bag contained.

 

"It's a good thing I didn't drop it." Relief was clear in his words.

 

"Hmm?"

 

Muraki extended the bag, slightly parted, to Seishirou. He peered into it and saw a dark green stem rising from a pot of earth, with leaves and a flower crowning its top.

 

"A rose?" he asked, not familiar with its numerous varieties.

 

"Yes. This hybrid is called 'Bewitched'," Muraki explained, "It's hardy and very easy to grow."

Seishirou reached into the bag and touched the rose's wide pink petals which spread outwards in a circle around its centre. Almost like a seal. "It's beautiful," he admitted.

 

Grey eyes saw him in a new light. This person didn't utter the word in a careless and ignorant manner without understanding its true meaning like most people did. Here was one who appreciated the aesthetic like him. Muraki found that his new acquaintance would prove to be a challenging riddle to unravel.

 

"Do you like roses, Sakurazuka-san?" Interest coaxed the boy to begin a conversation. They resumed their walk along the street.

 

"Yes, but I like cherry-blossoms more," Sakurazuka Seishirou answered.

 

"Oh? Why is that?" Muraki smoothed the lapel of his white coat as the wind blew past him.

 

Seishirou appeared to be giving the matter some thought.

 

A bird flew past them with a song to its mate.

 

"It's beautiful the way they blossom and fill their trees until not a single leaf can be seen, clothing the bare branches in pink. And the way the petals fall dancing with the wind, spreading a sweet fragrance in the air before touching the ground. Small Petals that are not red but not quite white either." He let out a seemingly nervous laugh. "But I'm being poetic Muraki-san."

 

"Not at all," the boy with the silver hair assured him. "I like roses for the opposite reasons. Roses are beautiful in the way they spread their petals, wide and regal-like. You see, I don't believe that beauty should be hidden."

 

The Sakurazuka noticed a subtle meaning to that comment, but the boy went on speaking.

 

"And their colour is bold, truly their own. I think I even like the paradox that such a thing of beauty can bring pain to its admirers as well." A light laugh rippled the air surrounding him.

 

"I prefer roses to be red though." Muraki glanced at the bag with a bit of disappointment in his eyes. "But the shop was out of them."

 

The long shadow of an age-old tree enfolded them as they walked beneath it. Silence settled on a branch and gazed at the one with a flower in his name.

 

"My mother says the same thing," Seishirou remarked off-handedly, walking beside Muraki.

 

The boy looked at him, but said nothing, and waited for him to continue.

 

"She likes camellias best, red camellias." He elaborated, "She says that its red looks beautiful against the white of snow. Sakura petals can never be red no matter how much blood they drain."

 

He started. His companion did not notice it. Inwardly, he cursed himself for that slip. It was strange, but there was something about this boy which made him relax and ease his guard. The feeling was like being in the company of an understanding friend, one who didn't pose a threat. He frowned, very strange indeed.

 

"Ah, you're referring to the myth of corpses buried under each Sakura tree?"

 

He strayed from the question. "Do you like myths, Muraki-san?" He parodied the other's question.

 

The other boy knew it and smiled. "I'm afraid I have an unhealthy interest in the occult and the supernatural." It sounded like a poor apology.

 

Occult? Supernatural? Laughter echoed in Seishirou's mind. Another being joined him in it.

 

"But I find it strange that a lady should like such a bloody and violent myth." Muraki mused, "I wonder what your mother is like."

 

The question hung in the air, waiting. "She's beautiful." A smile of appreciation appeared on Seishirou's face. Again, he avoided the question.

 

Here the boy with the grey eyes chuckled. "I'm sure all boys say that of their mothers."

 

Seishirou regarded the alluring image walking beside him. It had the power to captivate any being, human or not.

 

"Yours must be too, Muraki-san."

 

A compliment strung into a question dangled between them. The compliment was disregarded as a voice like cold ice replied, "So everyone tells me."

 

The Sakurazuka found this to be an unusual tone, he wondered what could have elicited such a reaction from the boy.

 

Silence watched the two boys and after a while took off to follow them. It spread its wings above them for long minutes before the one with the white coat decided to lift the silence from their surroundings.

 

"Are you studying to become a veterinarian, Sakurazuka-san? I noticed the books you returned at the library." Muraki spoke in a slow, casual manner which masked his real purpose.

 

Seishirou was willing to allow it. He had understood it was a dialogue of shared information that they conducted. "Yes, and what about you Muraki-san?"

 

The vermilion sun was covered by a vagrant cloud that wandered across the blue and purple sky.

 

A wistful smile set on Muraki's lips. "I will be a physician. It is a tradition in my family. I'm the tenth generation."

 

They turned to the right and crossed a momentarily empty street. Seishirou answered with a nod.

 

A tradition. An inescapable future like or is a destiny. Unlike this boy, such a thing did not bother nor burden him.

 

The cafe with its striped red and white sign loomed in the distance. Small groups of students and young girls entered and exited it.

 

"I almost forgot. You're new at the school aren't you, Muraki-san? I haven't seen you there before."

 

The pale-haired boy was surprised at Seishirou's excited tone of voice.

 

So was Silence, floating near them.

 

"Yes, though I'm afraid I will only be here for this semester." He couldn't see where the other was leading him.

 

Seishirou had a genuine smile on his face as he said cheerfully, "Still, I hope we'll be friends."

 

Muraki Kazutaka smiled too and accepted the proposal. "I hope we will be friends too, Sakurazuka-san." He opened the cafe's door and entered, a bell chimed welcoming them into the small coffee shop.

 

As Seishirou stepped into the shop, he turned in a quick and brief gesture to glance at something no other person around him saw. His golden eyes narrowed.

 

The Silence flew high into the darkening sky and dissolved with a cry reminiscent of a bird of prey.

 

* * *

 

The wind blew restlessly through the black night, sifting into every tree and leaving behind the sounds of disturbed leaves and the frightened cries of awakened animals. But the sweetest sound it made was when it passed over empty spaces of Sky and Earth. The wind had a beautiful voice then. It was empty of life, hollow of feelings, and bare of benevolence. A most foreboding cry befitting the night of a crimson moon.

 

_Like a wolf howling on a desolate mountain cliff._

 

_A very beautiful voice._

 

His gaze shifted to admire the full moon adorning the night sky. He stood waiting in silence beneath the majestic branches of a centuries-old maple tree.

 

Suddenly, he could hear something tearing the surrounding silence. It shot towards him with speed and deadly precision. He plucked it from the air, mere millimetres from his face, its tip sharp like an arrow's head. Its silk petals kissed his lips as he raised it to inhale its scent. The intoxicating sweet fragrance of a flower mixed with the unmistakable metallic notes of blood.

 

He eyed the direction it came from. A few moments drifted by before the darkness, like deep violet curtains, parted when a figure revealed itself to the night's cold air and the moon's wintry light.

 

"Konbanwa, Sakurazuka-san. It's been a long time," he greeted the man warmly.

 

Mismatched eyes gazed at one another, though the other's eyes were obscured by a fall of silver strands which veiled half of his face.

 

"Konbanwa, and yes it's been a long time. How have you been?" His hand rose to remove the black sunglasses from his face.

 

"Fine, except for a few unpleasant difficulties that come with the profession," he answered in a wry manner.

 

The Sakurazukamori chuckled. He could guess what those 'unpleasant difficulties' were given this person's 'profession' or rather his tendencies. He walked towards his friend and maintained an amiable smile on his face.

 

"Will you be staying for a while?"

 

"No, I'll be leaving tomorrow night." He knew the unspoken question behind the spoken one. "I thought it ill-mannered of me to come to Tokyo and not pay a visit to its guardian." A smile danced upon those words.

 

Sakurazuka's smile widened, whether in amusement or pretence the other could not know.

 

Muraki allowed the rose to slip through his hand and he held it with fingers curling around its petals as if he were holding a crystal glass of red wine. When Seishirou drew nearer, he asked.

 

"I trust you didn't remove it?" The question was phrased in a funny way. He suppressed the urge to laugh. One would be more than foolish and closer to insanity to trust the Sakurazukamori. But he did, in an odd nonchalant sort of way and he suspected it was the same with his so-called friend.

 

"Of course not," the Sakurazukamori sounded as if he was hurt. "I didn't think the second message was for me."

 

"Out of curiosity, who is it for?"

 

Muraki let out a chilling laughter.

 

"For an amethyst moon." He crushed the rose in his hand. Its blood-red petals swirled around the two men, red in sharp conflict with the white and black of their coats, before being lifted to the black sky on the crest of an icy wind.

 

"Do you have anything in particular to do tonight? I know a fine Japanese restaurant near here which I haven't been to in a while. It isn't too late for dinner."

 

"No, I don't have anything." He accepted the invitation, "But I'm paying."

 

Muraki's pale lips parted as he were about to protest.

 

A hand was raised to silence him. "It would be ill-mannered of me to allow my guest to pay."

 

They both smiled at the little joke they shared and began to walk out of the park. Seishirou reached into the pocket of his coat and took out a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to Muraki who shook his head politely.

 

"It would go against the good advice of my profession if I broke the rule myself," Muraki said declining. He pulled the lapels of his coat upwards to protect himself from the cold wind. His white coat with its similarly white leather straps contrasted with the simple elegant cut of the black one the other man wore.

 

"Remind me to give you a recommendation to my friend's restaurant in Kyoto, Sakurazuka-san. It's an old and renowned Japanese restaurant, and quite good," he remarked and strode beside his friend.

 

"Oh?" Seishirou indulged him. His lighter's flame wavered uncertainly.

 

Muraki nodded in affirmation.

 

 

The moon watched the two men walking together beneath it in the dead of night. Truly it did not matter which form darkness took.

 

Darkness may wear many masks and don many cloaks.

 

But....

 

In the end, its essence was one.

 

~ End ~

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2002 but edited and posted again on June 14th 2003.
> 
> If you want to see what these two beautiful men looked like when they were younger, look in "Yami no Matsuei" vol.8, and "X" vol.16. 
> 
> "Bewitched": a rose of the Hybrid Tea variety, characteristically pink, especially fragrant, long-lasting cut rose, one of the hardiest modern roses, and very easy to grow.
> 
> There is a sequel of sorts to this fic titled "Tea Roses".


End file.
